TIN-POT dictators demand unquestioning allegiance. Boris Johnson’s Cabinet is a mixture of hard Brexiteers and flunkeys who have sold their souls for a job in government – probably the most unimpressive government in my lifetime.

The only qualification required is unswerving loyalty to the PM. Competence and integrity count for nothing. We should not be surprised. What else could we expect from a Prime Minister who himself has an unparalleled record of incompetence and mendacity? He made his name as a journalist by filing reports about the EU that had little or no factual basis. And for two years he was the most incompetent Foreign Secretary in living memory, making our country an international laughing stock.

A general election appears unavoidable - but outcome is unlikely to resolve Brexit: The Yorkshire Post says

It came as no surprise when Brexit extremists Priti Patel, Dominic Raab and Jacob Rees-Mogg were given senior positions. What was more dispiriting was Johnson’s treatment of competent Ministers like David Mundell and Penny Mordaunt, sacked for no other reason than their failure to support Johnson in the Tory leadership election.

We have a government of hypocrites and lickspittles, writes former civil servant Tony Rossiter.

Boris Johnson’s no deal stance is the only way to break Brexit impasse: Yorkshire Post Letters

Liam Fox too, one of the authors of Brexit, was almost certainly culled not because of his unimpressive track record as a Minister, but because he supported Jeremy Hunt rather than Johnson. Beneath the façade of bumbling bonhomie lies a ruthless, vengeful autocrat. Comparisons with Donald Trump may not be as far-fetched as some people suppose.

Named: The hypocrites and lickspittles in Boris Johnson’s Cabinet shaming politics over Brexit – Tony Rossiter